Here’s what you need to know to start your day.
Good morning.
Here’s what you need to know:
• Scores of people remain missing after an avalanche of mud and rocks buried a village in southwest China .
Some 2,000 rescuers, working cautiously to avoid setting off more slides, have recovered few bodies, and at least 93 people were still missing. The region has long been rife with landslides and other geological hazards, and officials may be questioned about whether more could have been done to protect or move villagers.
President Xi Jinping warned other areas to be on guard for signs of danger during the rainy season.
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• Pakistan is also grappling with a disaster, the explosion of an overturned oil tanker that killed at least 140 people and seriously injured more than 50 others.
The victims had been collecting the fuel spilling from the tanker for about 45 minutes when something — a spark or tossed cigarette — set it off. “We kept on telling people to leave the crash site, ” a police official said, “but people wouldn’ t listen and more kept coming.”
And in London, regulatory failures appear to have allowed the use of flammable cladding that channeled the lethal blaze at Grenfell Tower last week, which killed at least 79 people.
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• Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India visits the White House for his first meeting with President Trump. One likely topic: Mr. Trump’s plan to change the H1-B visa program, which has left thousands of skilled foreign workers in limbo, most of them Indian.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, partly hampered by priorities that differ from those of Mr. Trump, still has no one lined up to cover Asia policy and has been stymied on North Korea and the Middle East.
Washington will spend the week gripped in debate over a Republican health care bill .
Above, Mr. Modi with Prime Minister Antonio Costa of Portugal on Saturday in Lisbon.
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• M illions of Chinese citizens are joining faith organizations, aiming to fill what they see as a moral vacuum.
But the groups operate carefully, to avoid antagonizing the authorities.
The calculations were clear in our interview with Master Hsing Yun, the founder of a group from Taiwan, Fo Guang Shan, or Buddha’s Light Mountain. “Buddhists don’ t get involved in politics, ” he said.
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• June Pride festivities were held across the world over the weekend. In our latest daily 360 video, join the L. G. B. T. Q. celebrations in cities like Dublin, Shanghai and Kiev, Ukraine.
And two years ago today, the U. S. Supreme Court made same-sex marriage a nationwide right. We asked gay couples what the ruling meant to them.
• An impending trade deal between the European Union and Japan encompasses a quarter of the world’s economy, affirms commitments to the Paris climate accord, and offers a potent symbol of free trade as the U. S. pursues a protectionist policy.
• Takata, the scarred airbag maker, is expected to file for bankruptcy after a board meeting today.
• Introducing the I. C. O.: Start-ups are trying a new way to raise funds, making “ initial coin offerings ” of their own digital currencies that sidestep the hassles of regulators and investor protections.
• Premier Li Keqiang will speak at the opening of the Summer Davos Forum in the northeast Chinese city of Dalian on Tuesday.
• Here’s a snapshot of global markets .
• The U. S. Fitzgerald mystery: Investigators are trying to unravel the lethal collision with a cargo ship off the coast of Japan that many veteran seamen describe as incomprehensible. [The New York Times]
• Mongolians vote today in a neck-and-neck race for a new president. [Nikkei Asian Review]
• The Grand Mufti of Australia and other prominent Muslims in the country spoke out on Eid al-Fitr against what they say are relentless calls to condemn terror attacks. [SBS]
• Still at large: Shaun Davidson of Australia and Tee Kok King of Malaysia are still being hunted by police, but the two men they escaped with from a Bali prison were captured in East Timor. [BBC]
• AirAsia X, the Malaysian long-haul budget carrier, has not yet explained what caused a plane to limp back to Perth “shaking like a washing machine.” [BBC]
• In Berlin, crowds and officials greeted two giant pandas — Meng (Sweet Dream) and Jiao Qing (Darling) — on loan from China for about $1 million a year. [Associated Press]
• World’s Ugliest Dog: Martha, a 125-pound Neapolitan mastiff, was awarded the dubious honor at a fair in California. [The New York Times]
• We’ re launching a weekly Smarter Living newsletter to deliver our best guidance on a better, smarter, more fulfilling life straight to your inbox. Sign up here, and catch up on our latest advice here.
• Recipe of the day: Green goddess dressing makes a zippy marinade for roast chicken .
• New Zealand is one win away from beating the U. S. and claiming the 35th America’s Cup, along with the right to draw up the rules for the next competition. One edge for New Zealand: drones.
• T he surface of the sun is hot, obviously. Try imagining 10,000-degree bursts of plasma that spurt 6,000 miles high at speeds of 60 miles per second.
• And walk through the Reversible Destiny Lofts in Tokyo in this 360 video. Tenants hope to extend their life spans with the rigorous sensory stimulation provided by their artist-inspired apartments.
A certain boy wizard was introduced to the world 20 years ago today, when “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was published in Britain.
The book, about Harry and other students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was an immediate hit that just kept growing in popularity. The magic inspired real-world Quidditch teams, book clubs, theme parks and a multibillion-dollar film franchise.
J. K. Rowling wrote “Philosopher’s Stone” in the cafes of Edinburgh, and the hometown paper, The Scotsman, praised her as “ a first-rate writer for children.”
(The J. stands for Joanne — Jo to her friends — and the K. for Kathleen, her grandmother’s name. Her publisher was worried that a book by an obviously female author wouldn’ t appeal to boys. And her surname is pronounced like “bowling.”)
A year later, the book arrived in the U. S. with a tweak to its title: “Philosopher’s” became “Sorcerer’s” to more clearly convey that it was about magic .
